Custom Homes & Mixed-Use
Ground-up projects, from parcel to certificate of occupancy
The projects that go well are the ones where somebody holds the whole arc — site, code, design, budget, build — instead of handing it off in pieces.
Custom residential
Custom homes fail on the same handful of things: a site that costs more to develop than anyone estimated, a design that outruns the budget before permit, and a construction phase where the owner can't evaluate what they're being told. Each of those is addressable early and expensive late.
CLD's engagement typically starts with the site — what it supports, what it costs to prepare — and continues through design budget reconciliation, permitting, and construction oversight.
Mixed-use and commercial
These add layers: land use approval separate from building permit, parking and traffic analysis, commercial building code and accessibility, fire and life safety review, tenant improvement sequencing, and frequently a lender who requires documented third-party oversight of draws.
The sequencing matters more than on residential work. Entitlement conditions can change the building program, so locking design before entitlement is a common and costly error.
Community and institutional facilities
Projects for churches, nonprofits, and community organizations bring a different constraint: a volunteer board making decisions, a fundraising schedule that doesn't align with a construction schedule, and limited internal capacity to manage a builder. CLD has run these and understands that the reporting has to be legible to people who don't work in construction.
What you get
- Site feasibility and development budget
- Design-to-budget reconciliation before permit
- Entitlement and permitting management
- Contractor selection and bid evaluation support
- Construction oversight and draw certification
- Closeout and occupancy
Bring CLD in when
- You're planning a ground-up build and haven't run one before
- A design is drifting past the budget and nobody is holding the line
- A lender or board requires independent oversight
- The project spans entitlement, permitting and construction
Common questions
Do you work on projects outside Puget Sound?
In-person engagements focus on Snohomish, King, Skagit and Island counties. Remote code research and permit preparation is available anywhere in the country.
What size projects do you take?
Everything from a single ADU to multi-lot developments and commercial facilities. What matters more than size is whether the project has complexity worth an experienced hand.
Can you help select a contractor?
Yes — including writing the scope, evaluating bids on an apples-to-apples basis, and reviewing the contract before you sign it.
Where this service is available
In person across Snohomish County · King County · Skagit County · Island County. Code research and submittal preparation for this scope is also available remotely, nationwide.
Related
Services that usually go with this one
Owner's Representation
Everyone else on the project is paid to deliver their scope. An owner's rep is the only party paid to protect the outcome.
Read more →Feasibility & Due Diligence
The cheapest problem is the one you find before closing. A feasibility review tells you what the parcel supports, what it will cost to get there, and whether to walk away.
Read more →Construction Oversight & Quality Control
The approved drawings describe what should get built. Oversight is the process of confirming, repeatedly, that it is.
Read more →Tell Carol about the project
The first conversation is a straight read on whether the project is workable and what it would take to move it. No charge for that call.